Professional and amateur players of stringed instruments such as guitars, steel guitars, Dobros, and banjos, struggle in keeping finger and thumb picks in place and stable while playing their instruments, specifically when playing for sustained periods of times. This is a particular concern for professional musicians whose livelihood depends on their ability to perform at a high level, consistently and without failure, sometimes several times on the same day.
There is a currently an unmet need to solve this long standing musicians' problem of picks slipping or being dropped during the play of these stringed instruments. To date, several commercially-available products or homemade solutions attempt to solve this problem with little success. Such solutions include ointments, rubber coated picks, physically-altered or modified picks and the use of tape. These existing items either a) attempt the application of a substance with some limited binding properties to the picks themselves or b) directly modify the picks to create a better grip between the finger or thumb and the pick. Such products have failed to consistently provide the adhesion needed, especially for professional musicians, and have sometimes actually negatively impacted the player's performance.